Many types of games or group-based challenges exist, such as board games, card games, domino/tile games, pen and pencil games, guessing games, dexterity/coordination games, business games, sports, and so forth. Games are inherently social, and many players like to play games for the challenge of the game. However, many players also enjoy the social aspect of gaming, and the ability to meet up to interact with other players. One type of game is a role-playing game (RPG), which is a broad family of games where players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. For example, a player may assume the role of a mage in a fantasy-themed role-playing game and partake in various game interactions such as befriending other characters, battling monsters, completing quests, building and/or trading items, and so on. Actions taken within the game succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines. The original forms, sometimes called pen-and-paper RPGs, are conducted through speech, whereas in live action role-playing games (LARPs), players physically perform their characters' actions. In both forms, a director (game master (GM)) usually decides on rules and settings to be used and acts as referee, while other players play the role of one or more characters in the game.
Computer-assisted gaming has been used to add elements of computer gaming to in-person and pen and paper role-playing. In these games, computers are used for record-keeping and sometimes to resolve combat, while the participants generally make decisions concerning character interaction. Several varieties of RPG also exist in primarily electronic media, including multi-player text-based multi-user dungeons (MUDs) and their graphics-based successors, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Role-playing games also include single-player offline role-playing video games in which players control a character or team who perform game interactions (e.g., competing in battle, conversing with other players or characters, partaking in quests, trading with merchants, etc.), and whose capabilities advance using statistical mechanics. These games often share settings and rules with pen-and-paper RPGs, but generally emphasize character interaction and/or advancement more than collaborative storytelling.
MMORPGs, such as Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft, Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest, or Jagex Games Studio's RuneScape, combine the large-scale social interaction and persistent world of MUDs with graphical interfaces. A persistent world is a virtual world that generally continues to exist even after a user exits the world. User-made changes to its state are, to some extent, permanent. Servers, data structures, algorithms, etc. associated with the persistent world generally remain available and operational for the user, or other users from around the world, to join and interact with the persistent world and with other players at any time of day or night. For example, if a character purchases an item from a merchant or some way adds an item to the character's inventory in a persistent virtual world, one or more data structures associated with the persistent virtual world may be created or modified to reflect the addition. Most MMORPGs do not actively promote in-character role-playing; however, players can use the games' communication functions to role-play, which they may do to varying extents.
More generally, a massively multiplayer online game (also called MMOG or MMO) is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or hundreds of thousands of players simultaneously, and need not be of the RPG type, but can be applied to any competitive or cooperative endeavor. An MMOG is generally played on a computer network such as the Internet, and features at least one persistent virtual world. In some cases, multiple instances of a persistent virtual world may be maintained for the MMOG. Each instance may be governed by a different set of rules or conventions, may be available to different regions of the world. Some MMOGs are designed as a multiplayer browser game to reduce infrastructure costs and use a thin client. They are, however, not necessarily games played on personal computers. Most of the newer game consoles, including the PSP and PlayStation 3 by Sony, Xbox 360 by Microsoft, and DSi and Wii by Nintendo can access the Internet and may therefore run MMO games. Additionally, mobile devices and smartphones based on such operating systems as Windows Mobile, Apple's iOS, and Google's Android, as well as the Apple iPhone and iPad, are seeing an increase in the number of MMO games available.
Multiplayer games and networked activities, such as MMOGs and MMORPGs, enable players to cooperate and compete with each other on both a small and large scale, and sometimes to interact meaningfully with people around the world. They include a variety of game-play types, representing many video game genres. Examples of game-play types include, but are not limited to:                Massively Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter (MMOFPS) is a subset of popular first-person shooter-type games where a player views an environment or virtual world through the eyes of a character. MMOFPS is an online gaming genre which typically features a world (e.g., persistent world) and a large number of simultaneous players in a first-person shooter fashion. These games provide large-scale, sometimes team-based combat. The addition of persistence in the game world means that these games add elements typically found in RPGs, such as experience points. However, MMOFPS games generally emphasize player skill more than player statistics, as no number of in-game bonuses will compensate for a player's inability to aim and think tactically.        Massively Multiplayer Online Real-Time Strategy Games (MMORTS) often combine real-time strategy (RTS) with a persistent world though in some cases worlds are “instanced” for the duration of a game, a match, a tournament, or other specified time period. Players may assume the role of a general, king, or other figurehead leading an army into battle while maintaining the resources needed for such warfare. The titles are often based in a science fiction or fantasy universe and are distinguished from single or small-scale multiplayer RTSes by the number of players and, in some cases, common use of a persistent world. The world is generally hosted by the game's publisher and, in the case of persistent worlds or an “instanced” world of longer duration, continues to evolve even when the player is offline.        Massively Multiplayer Online Sports Games allow players to compete in more traditional sports, such as soccer, basketball, baseball, hockey, golf or football.        Massively Multiplayer Online Racing (MMOR) is a large, online racing game, although some games may include elements of combat.        Massively multiplayer online rhythm games (MMORGs), or massively multiplayer online dance games (MMODGs), are MMOGs that are also music video games, for example those which were influenced by Dance Dance Revolution by Konami.        Massively multiplayer online management games (MMOMGs) are often considered easy to play and don't take much time; a player logs in a few times each week, sets orders for an in-game team and finds how to defeat fellow players. Other management games, such as The Sims Online by Electronic Arts and Monopoly City Streets by Tribal DDB, require taking control of people.        Massively Multiplayer Online Social Games focus on socialization instead of objective-based game-play. There is a great deal of overlap in terminology with “online communities” and “virtual worlds”. One example is Linden Labs' Second Life, which emphasizes socializing, world-building, and an in-world virtual economy that depends on the sale and purchase of user-created content. Instead of being based around combat, it is based around creating or acquiring virtual objects, including models and scripts.        Some MMOGs have been designed to accurately simulate certain aspects of the real world. They tend to be very specific to industries or activities of very large risk and huge potential loss, such as rocket science, airplanes, trucks, battle tanks, submarines etc. The MMOG genre of air traffic simulation is one example, which provides rigorously authentic flight-simulation environments to players in both pilot and air traffic controller roles. In this category of MMOGs, the objective is to create duplicates of the real world for people who cannot or do not wish to undertake those experiences in real life. For example, flight simulation via an MMOG requires far less expenditure of time and money, is completely risk-free, and is far less restrictive (fewer regulations to adhere to, no medical exams to pass, and so on).        MMO turn-based strategy games, such as Steve Jackson Games'UltraCorps allow numerous players to share a common playing field. Turns are usually time-based, with a “tick” schedule usually daily. All orders are processed, and battles resolved, at the same time during the tick.        Alternate reality games (ARGs) can be massively-multiplayer, allowing thousands of players worldwide to co-operate in puzzle trails and mystery solving. ARGs may take place in a unique mixture of online and real-world play that usually does not involve a persistent world, and are not necessarily multiplayer, making them sometimes seen as somewhat different from MMOGs.        Casual or “Quick fix” MMOGs, such as Racing Frogs by Wacky Web Fun Ltd. and logen Ltd., are MMOGs that can be played with only a small amount of time every day, week, month, etc.        Massively multiplayer collectible card games, such as Magic: The Gathering Online, include unique virtual objects used within a game that may be exchanged between players within the game or on a secondary market.        A blended MMO game incorporating features of various game-play types described above or other contemplated game-play types.        
Some attempts to build peer-to-peer (P2P) MMOGs have been made; however, so far most of these efforts appear to be academic. A P2P MMOG may potentially be more scalable and cheaper to build, but notable issues with P2P MMOGs include security and consistency control, which can be difficult to address given that clients are easily hacked.
Some attempts have been made to provide ways to connect geographically disbursed players together in a given game or networked activity. For example, Microsoft's Xbox Live allows players to enter existing games and be joined together to participate in a game, even if the players have had no prior contact with each other. Blizzard Entertainment employs a dungeon finder tool and battlegrounds matchmaking function that connect players within its World of Warcraft game. Under the dungeon finder tool or using the battlegrounds matchmaking function, players can select from various dungeons or battlegrounds, where players can be linked based on their class or geographic region, such as within the U.S./Canada, Latin America, etc., however, this matching functionality is quite rudimentary. Starcraft provides a player finder board that lists players, points obtained, game faction, numbers of wins and losses (with win percentage), achievement points and division. New players can attempt to find a compatible player within whom to play the game from the board. These player matching systems, however, fail to provide adequate matching to enhance player experiences, among other shortcomings. Other services provide information regarding player character equipment. For example, the GearScore software provides metrics for various items of player equipment permitting players to compare certain relative equipment levels between characters.
Some attempts have also been made to track user activities in an effort to improve user efficiency. For example, RescueTime automated time tracking and management software by RescueTime, Inc. tracks processes executing on a user's client computer to determine how a user's time is spent and employs an alert system to notify users based on data collected. The system, however, is focused on improving user efficiency rather than identifying matches or otherwise characterizing users.
Overall, as given the variety of games and the ever increasing need to enhance each player's experience, there is a need to further improve MMOGs.
The headings provided herein are for convenience only and do not necessarily affect the scope or meaning of the claimed invention.